County spends $218,400 to acquire right-of-way to pave State Park Road

The Grady County Commission has now acquired all of the right-of-way necessary to pave State Park Road, which will be the main entryway to the 960-acre Tired Creek Lake.
After many months of negotiations, county commissioners voted publicly to ratify the verbal approval the board had given County Attorney Kevin S. Cauley in previous closed door meetings to purchase the needed right-of-way.
A total of $218,400 was spent to purchase 26.29 acres on 15 tracts of land.
According to Grady County Administrator Carlos Tobar, Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax proceeds are being used to purchase all of the right-of-way with the exception of a 15-acre tract purchased from D. Wayne Pitchford III, and Melanie A. Wright at a cost of $100,000. That purchase was funded through money in the county’s general fund, Tobar said.
The other transactions included:
J. Michael Russell and Brenda Russell, 2.12 acres – $21,200; Bobby G. Rogers, 0.38 acres – $3,800; Justin Harrison, 0.54 acres – $5,400; Sheria Vasquez and Patsy Vasquez, 0.20 acres – $2,000; Larry W. Hudson, 0.67 acres – $6,700; Larry W. Hudson, 0.08 acres – $800; Sugar River Dog Training Club LLC, 0.68 acres – $0; Larry Hudson, life estate interest, Remainder to Michael L. Hudson, Misty Michelle Hudson and Melanie Elise Hudson, 2.56 acres – $25,600; J.W. Crapps Family Farms LLLP, 1.24 acres – $12,400; Charles Raymond Stokes, 0.54 acres – $11,500; Larry Hudson, life estate interest, Remainder to Michael L. Hudson, Misty Michelle Hudson and Melanie Elise Hudson, 0.54 acres – $8,800; W.E. Thomas Jr., and Dewey Robinson, 0.84 acres – $8,400; Anthony Shane MacNeil and Sandra Corbin MacNeil, 0.77 acres – $10,500; and Larry Hudson, life estate interest, Remainder to Michael L. Hudson, Misty Michelle Hudson and Melanie Elise Hudson, 0.13 acres – $1,300.
“Did we stay under the budget we had set for this?” Commissioner LaFaye Copeland said.
County Attorney Cauley said he was unaware of what the budget was and referred the question to Tobar.
Tobar said the purchase was in line with the exception of the large tract purchased from Pitchford.
County officials credited Cauley for his work on the project and the county attorney said that Tobar had been helpful in negotiating the purchase of the Pitchford property to wrap up the deal.
Cauley also noted that the county might consider changing the name of the road it is preparing to pave since a state park would never be located on the road. Commissioners did not take up the matter Tuesday night.
In related news Tuesday night, the board of commissioners voted to accept the low bid of $561,226 from Peavy and Son of Havana, Fla., to pave Cedar Springs and Gainous Roads. Other bids received were $748,736.60 from Oxford Construction Co. of Albany and $1,287,010 from CAI of Tallahassee. Consulting engineer Stacy Watkins had estimated the project cost at $600,000, according to Tobar.
The county administrator said that Local Maintenance Improvement Grant funds from the Georgia Department of Transportation and the $1.2 million grant from the Georgia Transportation Infrastructure Bank through the State Road and Tollway Authority, which was awarded to the county in 2014, will be used to finance the paving project.
A total of 1.6 miles of road is to be paved.
Tobar said that two of the contractors that bid on the Cedar Springs and Gainous Road projects had been complimentary of the grading and drainage work performed by the county road department. “Stanley Elkins and his crew have done a fantastic job,” Tobar said.